Corn-planter.



H. H. MILLER. I

' GORN PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 190B.

9 1 9,05 1 Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

5 dig Z 9 ITNESSES INVENTOR,

H. H. MILLER.

UOBN PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 190a.

Patented Apr. 20, 1909 4 SHEETS-BBBET 2.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

nu: NORRIS Pzrlns ca. WASHINGTDN, n. C.

H. H. MILLER.

(JQRN PLANTEE. APPLICATION nun my s, 1908.

Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

7 WITNESSES: '1

\TIII MOIIIII I'l'l'l 00.. 'BIIIIGIDI, in. c.

INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY.

'H. H. MILLER.

CORN PLANTER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY a, 1908.

- Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

4 SHEET8SHEET 4."

INVENTOR) f fi'dC 155' 1116067:

WITNESSES A TTORNE Y.

lyc'ron,

ms PE'IIRI co HORACE HERBERT MILLER, OF LYNDONVILLE, VERMONT.

OORN-rLAN'rER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 5, 1908.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Serial No. 430,951.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Honnon HERBERT MiLLEii, 1 citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and resident of Lyndonville, in the county ofCaledonia and State of Vermont,

seeds, to deliver the seeds, one at a time, at

regular distances apart, and to cover the seeds deposited in the furrowwith the dirt just previously thrown up from the furrow.

The machine also comprises a means for operating the seed conveying anddelivering mechanism so that the seeds may be depos ited in the furrowat predetermined distances apart.

The machine also includes provisions whereby when the machine is drawnor trundled rearwardly, instead of being forwardly propelled for itsusual seed planting operation, the seed feeding mechanism will becomeinactive and be without effect to agitate or churn the seeds in thehopper or receptacle therefor.

Other objects incidental to the operation of a highly practical andeflicient seed planting machine are attained in and by the arrangementsof the devices and the constructions thereof, as hereinafter explained.And the invention consists in the combinations, arran ements, andconstructions of parts substantially as hereinafter described and setforth in the claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a plan view of the seed planting machine;Fig. 2 is an inverted plan more especially showing the under side of theplow and furrow closer; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig.4 is a perspective view to show the important structural features of theseed feeding ring in relation to a wall with which it cooperates; Fig. 5is a horizontal sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 8, showing a detailof construction pertaining to the seed feeding spout; Fig. 6 is asubstantially horizontal longitudinal sectional view, on a larger scale,on line 66, Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a clutch device which isrepresented in section in Fig. 6 Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the seedfeeding mechanism; Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on line9-9, Fig. 8. Figs. 10 and 11 are perspcctive views of parts hereinafterreferred to.

In the drawings,-A represents the supporting and propulsion frame of theseed planting machine, comprising forwardly convergent bars, having rearend handles and legs a, intermediately united by a cross bar o andmounted at their forward ends on the axle b for a centrally disposedtraction wheel B. A subsidiary or secondary frame C is also at itsforward end pivotally hung on the wheel axle, normally inclineddownwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and has, connected at its rear end,a chain c, the free end portion of which is engaged through a notchedlug c on the cross member a of the handle frame.

' The secondary frame has mounted on the rear portion thereof a seedreceptacle D which has the form of a semi-cylindrical upwardly openhopper, having at the rear lower portion thereof an aperture cl throughwhich a small quantity of the mass of seeds provided in the receptaclemay rearwardly pass into a secondary chamber formed between the rearwall ofv the receptacle proper and the plate of glass 6, or othersuitable material, the up oer edge of which plate is in proximity witthe upper open end of the downwardly leading spout E supported on theframe 0 and having the lower open end thereof in proximity to the groundat the line of the furrow made by the plow F as the machine is forwardlymoved, and almost directly thereafter closed by the furrow closinglipsff carried on a flat downwardly inclined. plate 0 which in theoperation of the machine has a dragging action along the ground.

As shown in Fig. 6, the seed receptacle 1) is made, behind its rearvertical wall (Z which has the aforementioned aperture (Z therein, witha rearwardly open extension comprising the annular flange h the uppercircular part of which extends above the open top of the receptacle; anda ring j having spur gear teeth n is loosely fitted about said flange,which constitutes an annular support therefor. The said gear toothedring 7' has removably secured on its rearward face by screws 7' a ring Hhaving its location in a plane next to the rearwardly located circularedge of the flange h; and said ring has, internally, regularly sp acedratchet-like pocket forming teeth 7: 7c which are transversely andrearwardly inclined relatively to the face of the ring, as particularlyrepresented in Figs. 4 and 8. The outer face of the ring H movessubstantially in contact with the plate J, preferably of glass, the samebeing carried on a frame or supported on a hinge m at one rear sideportion of the receptacle, and detachably held in its closed position bya snap catch m at the other side. The delivery spout E has the forwardlyturned lip 14 at the edge of its flaring upper open end resting directlyagainst plate J at the beveled upper edge of the latter, and sidewiseremoved from the central line of the receptacle so as to be adjacent therevoluble path of movement of the pocket forming teeth of the seerfeeding ring.

In Fig. 8, the plate J being transparent, does not conceal from view theportions of the apparatus which are next beyond it. The toothed ring isretained against displacement on the annular flange 71, about which itrevolves by lugs which are secured by screws on the rear wall of theseed receptacle frame, which lugs edgewise enter a peripheral groove 0in the ring. The revoluble movement of the toothed ring and the pocketin eluding seed feeding ring H which is carried as one therewith, is inconsequence of the forward movement of the wheeled frame as pushed bythe user through driving connections as follows: Alhxed on the hub ofthe traction wheel B is a disk having on the outer face thereof sets ofcog studs (1 in three concentric circles and in mesh with the cog studsof some one of the circles is a spur gear wheel 7" carried at theforward end of sleeve 3 which is iounted for rotation in a circularbearing in bracket i, said bracket being by its foot piece 6 adjustablysecured on one of the side bars of the secondary frame C. While the saidgear carrying sleeve 8 is freely rotatable in the bearing t therefor,itis in capable, normally, of endwise movement, and said sleeve at itsend which is rearwardly projected beyond the ournal support t has aseries of ratchet-shaped clutch teeth 10 in engagement with which arethe similar ratchetshaped clutch teeth a on a circular clutch member awhich is afiixed to the longitudinally ranging, cross sectionally squareshaft G near the forward end of the latter,- the extreme forward endportion of the shaft G being round in cross section and playing freelythrough and endwise forwardly beyond the gear carrying sleeve s, and 1)represents a stop pin for preventing an undue extent of rearwardlongitudinal sliding movement of the shaft. The polygonal shaft G towardits rearward end is slidably engaged through a correspondingly shapedopening axially through a spur gear wheel to and its hub w the teeth ofsaid spur gear wheel to being in constant mesh with the teeth ncircumferentially provided on the ring which carries the annular seedfeeding member H. Said gear to is retained against axial displacement byhaving the hub thereof, which is fitted through a circular journalsupport w therefor, oon structed with a peripheral groove w engaged inwhich is the inner extremity of a screw or stud which penetrates thebearing support Q03. At the rear end of the shaft G, rearwardly beyondthe intermcshing gears w and n, is a head or enlargement rt.

It will be here explained that the ratchetshaped teeth it and 11/respectively on the hub s of the gear r and on the circular clutchmember are so inclined, and the faces of the teeth are so perpendicularto the axis of the parts on which they are formed, that when thetraction wheel B is running forwardly and the parts and s are in clutchthey will so remain, there beino; no force or effect to cause them to bethrown out of clutch; but in case the mael'iine is trundled in arearward direction and the traction wheel B is rcversely turned, theeffect of the iclined teeth on the part a will be to crowd the part 163rearwardly and fully out of clutch; and hence, the latter action is ahighly advantageous one for the reason that it is requisite that theshaft shall turn to cause the feeding movement of the seed feedingmember H only when the machine is forwardly propelled for planting, andalso that it is desirable, when the machine may be drawn in a rearwarddirection instead of being pushe l that the seed feeding member ll shallremain immovable, as thereby unnecessary agitation or churning u by themember ll of the seeds in the hopper is avoided.

The operation of the machine will be now described: A quantity of seedsto be planted in drills'is supplied in the feed receptacle D, thesuspension chain on the secondary frame C is arranged so that such framemay have its normal downwardly and rearwardly inclined position for theplow and furrow closer to operate on the ground. The handle frame beinggrasped in the manner of the handles of a wheel barrow and therebyproperly raised about as represented by the full lines in 3, themachine, in advancing causes, through the driving connections betweenthe traction wheel B and the r wheel 12, a revoluble movement atmoderate speed of the pocket seed feeding wheel. it will be hereexplained that the rearward end of the shaft is so located, as will beperceived in Figs. 1 and 3, that the operatm, preparatory to pushing themachine forwardly for seed planting may, after raising the handle frame,impart by a kicking movement of the foot against the shaft enlargement ra forward sliding motion to the shaft G to place the clutch member if,which is non-rotatable relatively to the shaft, in clutch with the part8 which is unitary with the gear wheel r in mesh with one of the circull (l lar series of cogs on the disk p which turns as one with thetraction wheel B. It will also be explained that although the bottom ofthe seed receptacle D is, while the machine is being operated, somewhatdownwardly and rearwardly inclined, whereby the seeds have a tendency togravitate toward the plate J, the restricted opening d through the lowerportion of the partition walls of the seed hopper, while permitting thedischarge of a sufficient quantity of seeds therethrough pre vents anygreat banking up of the seeds against the plate J within thesupplemental chamber in the hopper. The seeds do, however, settle orfill into each of the pockets in the annular ring plate H, and by theinclination of the bases of such pockets rearwardly and toward the plateJ, the seeds have the tendency, as the plate moves in its circularcourse, to settle and impinge against the inner face of the plate, andto be, on the other hand, without any tendency to be displaced fromtheir pocketing in the feed ring after having once assumed the positiontherein as represented in Fig. l. N ow, so soon as a seed in a givenpocket reaches the height represented at 12 in Fig. 9, at or slightlyabove the upper edge of the plate J, it is free to roll, and will roll,or slide, along the downwardly and rearwardly inclined base of thepocket and across the upper edge of the plate 5 of the outwardly turnedlip 14 of the spout E which overlaps the edge of the plate, and willfall and be guided through the spout into the furrow formed by the plow,which is positioned slightly in advance of the lower open delivery endof the spout. By the time the seed in the next pocket is brought up tothe position for its liberation over the edge of the plate J and intothe spout, the machine has bodily progressed a suitable distance so thatthe next seed falls into the furrow at a proper spacing from thepreviously delivered one; and so on throughout the entire line of thedrill; and, of course, it is apparent that the rearwardly convergentlips of the furrow closer almost immediately after the depositing of theseed in the drill automatically close the furrow and cover the seed withearth.

By making the plate J of glass, and consequently transparent, the userof the machine may always observe from the rear that the seed supply inthe receptacle is ample and that the seeds are being carried partiallyaround, and upwardly for delivery, without any skipping, into the guidespout.

In the drawings, Fig. 6, the gear wheel 7 is shown as adjusted to be inmesh with the cogs or teeth (1 in the intermediate one of the threecircles of such teeth on the face of wheel 7 which revolves as one withthe traction wheel B, and consequently there will be a feeding andplanting of the seeds with moderate spacings; should it be desired tohave the seeds planted closer together, the journal bracket tin whichthe hub of the gear wheel 1" is carried may be adjusted rearwardly onthe frame, as permitted by the provision of the slot 1? in the footpiece of the bracket and the clamping bolt t engaging through theslotted foot piece in the member of the frame C in which the bracket ismounted. From this rearward adjustment it will be understood that thegear wheel 7 and the driving connections between it and the seed feedingring H will have faster motions and feed the seeds more frequently in agiven distance traveled by the machine; and on the other hand byadjusting the gear wheel 1* forwardly to be in mesh with the cogs in thesmallest circle, a considerably slower revoluble movement of the seedfeeding ring may be acquired with a delivery and planting of the seedsat correspondingly greater, though uniform distances apart.

For different characters of seeds I may employ interchangeable rings331- having pocket forming teeth, the same in principle and character asdescribed, but modified as to distance of separation and also as totheir base widths to correspond with different sizes, shapes andcharacters of seeds or other articles to be planted,one being easilyremoved by taking out the screws y' and a new one replaced; and in thisconnection will be appreciated the advantage of mounting the glass plateJ on the hinged frame before mentioned, as thereby the frame and platemay be swung rearwardly and off to one side, leaving a clear way for theremoval and re placement of seed feeding rings as occasion requires andinasmuch as the spout E must also have its position shifted in orderthat the hinge frame may be swung across the normal line of the spout, aswinging support for the spout is provided which consists of an eye bolt1, Fig. 5, the eye of which embraces the intermediate part of the spoutwhile the shank of the bolt extends horizontally through a member of theframe C and re ceives on its screw threaded extremity the thumb nut 1which latter when tightened draws the ring eye to a point for clampingthe spout against the side of the frame, while, 1 l 5 manifestly, theloosening of the nut leaves the eye bolt and spout free for any desiredamount of oscillatory movement.

hen the user of the machine desires to rest, he merely lays the handledown to the lower position shown by dotted lines in Fig.

8 and if he desires to run the machine over the ground forwardly and tohave the machine non-effective for seed feeding and delivery, he hasmerely to first draw the machine a few inches rearwardly with the resultthat the inclined faces of the clutch u on the hub of the gear 7 willcrowd the clutch member a entirely out of clutch so that then on anyforward trundling of the machine no mo- 1 30 tion will. he imparted fromthe t actio' wheel to the transmi heft (T;

tor has to push the ces seed and newly e thereby eleva Enoch the le elor l' then, when the machine is thereby more to ;he handle f une, and

shaft Qhtlv endwisc forii'ardi v, ahich in practice and mostconveniently is done with the f ot r. hile grit g and holding, pro; lraised, the hi idles oi the frame A, and the capabilities described andexpl ined are of great advantage and value w ii 5 1 mat-nine, that ismost satislao it if nit mach e into clutch for r such desired to besatisfactory that the ma- 'i autoin tieallr become noneifeetany motion,either i the forr; ard or rd direction, of the d feeding ring to theconvenience j heights who may have s of the seed planter.

of persons of re occasion to matte ill,

I claim 1. in a seed plan machine, in combination, a driving wheel, seedplantii'ig g' means located rearwai I of said wheel, stationary bfiitiilfront and rear pinions, pinions having hu nortions journaled in saidhearings, the 1 in being driven b said rel, the 3 pinion driving saidseed pian means, a square shaft passed through the rear inion and havinga rounded front end p0 assed through the front pinion, said shaft beingmounted for axial sliding movement through said pinions, and having arearwardly projecting portion, a clutch member secured to the frontpinion and a companion clutch member fixed to the shaft.

2. in a seed planting machine, in combination, a supporting frame, seedplanting means thereon, a ground Wheel, a gear wheel attached thereto, agear wheel operating the seed planting means, a pinion meshing with saidfirst gear wheel, a clutch member attached to said pinion, a squareshaft mounted for rotation and for axial sliding movement and providedwith a clutch member for engagement with said first clutch member uponcorrespoiniing axial movement of the shaft, a pinion provided on saidshaft and engaging said second gear wheel, and a fixed leaf springconstructed to engage said last named clutch member and to hold the sameout of engagement with its companion clutch member.

3. In a seed planting machine, in combiing pinion, a driven pinion,

nation, a or; said planting means operated by the driven pinion, a shaftconstructed to rotate the driven pinion and means for rotating saidshaft from the driving pinion compris ng a clutch member secured to thedriving pinion, a companion clutch member mounted on the shaft totransmit rotation thereto and being movable into or out of engagementwith the driving pinion and a leaf spring having a fixed mounting andhaving a projecting portion formed to engage said companion clutchmember, and to hold the same out of engagement with said first namedclutch meml. In a seed planting machine, in combination, a supportingframe, a face gear wheel having concentric annular rows of teeth, seedplanting means, gearing between said seed planting means and said facegear and including as an element thereof a driving pinion associatedwith said face gear, a bracket having a base portion and a bearingportion to receive the hub of the pinion, said base portion being formedwith a longi tudinal slot, and fastening means engaged through the slotand into a frame part, said bracket being adjustably movable to vary theposition of said pinion with relation to the rows of teeth of said facegear.

HORACE HER EitT h HLLER.

Ti itncsses HARLAND B. Hows, MAE L. LAoAssE.

